Tuesday, May 16, 2006

Programmable Radio

This afternoon I've been listening to Neil Young's new CD "Living with War" as it's streaming in its entirety here. It's an angry effort with some excellent cuts like "Flags of Freedom" and "Let's Impeach the President." But my favorite at this point is Young's "Restless Consumer," described over on The Brad Blog as "a headbanging indictment of both American consumerism and the manipulation of the public by the corporate media. Young breaks into an almost rap-style rant in the choruses, with the refrain, 'We don’t need no more lies!'"

I like this CD. Mostly because it echoes my own anger. Maybe that helps explain why the programmable radio in our new car lights up when you first turn it on with the following welcome message.

Up to this point in life I'd never been so angered by people and events as to display it so brazenly. But under Bush that's the nation we're becoming. A bunch of angry, angst-ridden folks. Bush doesn't give a shit, and I'm sure it pleases the Osama bin Ladens, no end.

And so, with passengers and guests who now ride in the car, I no longer care whose sensibilities I affront. If they don't like the message, let'em walk, break their "addiction to oil."

5 comments:

O god, I have to get this new CD into my library!!! what you describe of "restless consumer" is dead-on to my own views about American consumerism and the inherent evil of the marketing profession that promotes it...IMO, marketeers are on a level with lawyers, scum-sucking bottom dwellers who shamelessly feed on the American Dream...

a few days ago, I was invited to a marketing presentation for a banking product that will soon be available for residents in the NY/NJ/PA area...I declined the face-to-face meeting, but did attend via conference call and I'm glad I did it that way, because I could not stop the looks of revulsion and disgust that crossed my face and the groans of despair that forced their way out of my mouth as this snake-oil salesman displayed the commercials that will be shown in this area next month and talked the whole theme up enthusiastically to the small crowd...psychological manipulation at its worst... to the tune of a John Cougar song ("ain't that America, home of the free"), this charlatan espoused the value in giving your business to my bank, because you'll get a rebate on fees when you use another banks's ATM and you can buy gasoline among various and sundry other meaningless things...

well sure, bubba, you'll get a rebate of $3 or $6 and that'll get you a couple of gallons to last you another day...meanwhile the bank makes all sorts of money on your deposits and whacks you with a $28 fee should you have the temerity to overdraw your account...they make it easy for you to do that from the ATM or at the supermarket as well

let me just clarify the insidious nature of the banking "product" above...

this bank will still collect their foreign ATM fee from you, alright...they'll take it when you use some other bank's ATM, play with the collected money all month long and make more money with it...then they'll keep the interest and give you back your original $3 or $6 at the end of the month...such a deal!

don't wanna partake in this great example of capitalism? here's 2 ways you can drop out...

1.) use your own bank's ATMs, they're usually free

2.) use your ATM card and get cash-back at the supermarket or wherever you can instead of using an ATM...fees are charged, but it's usually to the vendor and not to you...

bravo, maineiac, for declining these "deals" ! Banking & insurance marketeers have incredibly seductive chutzpah. Consumers really should ask themselves every step along the decision path, who is benefiting from this promotion? Odds are nonexistant that it's you.

Like a dinosaur, I've opted out of that whole ATM business by not even allowing my bank to "give" me one (have to keep not allowing this a few times each year). I can get cash back using my regular no-annual fee visa card at most grocery stores. Also, whatever happened to just going into your bank or drive-up window to withdraw cash? So far, my bank doesn't charge teller-fees for face-to-face encounters, it's only 5-minutes from my home and the branch mgr knows me by name & face (another advantage of small town life). "Ain't that America" indeed.

Dada, thanks for the Neil Young link! The fact he's still around & making waves is inspiring, impeachment songs are tasty icing for this cinnamon girl. D.K.

maineiac: Even though my schooling oriented me in the direction of "business", I was doomed to fail. Turns out I was bullshit intolerant. I couldn't sit through one of those insurance company staff meetings w/o staring at everyone in the room, amazed they couldn't see the cynicism pouring outta every pore of me. I sure as hell could feel it.

I'm amazed at the crap. Competition for shelf space in the stores is one of my favorites. How many different specialized types of vitamins can we take? There's ones for men, ones for women, for women over 50, men over 50 and adults under 20; for those hoping to grow prostates. Ones for healthy ovaries. Cancer fighting lycopene, others with Ester C and on and on and on. Razors with 5 blades. Shavers with 15 face settings. Room deodorizers with your choice of 28 scents, etc. etc. ad nauseum.

And then one of my current (faves) is a commercial of the harried mom saying mornings at her house aren't hectic, as her daughter comes running down the stairs with the dog running to get out of her way. "They're crazy! That's why I always make sure they get a hot breakfast," she says proudly as she holds up a box of frozen, nukeable pancakes.

Christ! We are a sick, soulless-assed country and the American experiment is definitely dead.

Oh, and as for Seinfeld series. I guess I loved it for the ego-centric superficial characters we all could laugh at. Laugh at because one could usually relate to some aspect of the show which said something about all of us. In effect, while laughing at the shallow inanities of the characters, we were really laughing at ourselves. Thankfully, we didn't realize it.

THE BEGINNING IS NEAR

HUH?

You develop an instant global consciousness, a people orientation, an intense dissatisfaction with the state of the world, and a compulsion to do something about it. From out there on the moon, international politics look so petty. You want to grab a politician by the scruff of the neck and drag him a quarter of a million miles out and say, "Look at that, you son of a bitch."

— Edgar Mitchell, Apollo 14 astronaut, People magazine, 8 April 1974.

"Keep in mind that this planet is no model for rational thought, and that what passes for sanity here is sending chills down the spine of the remainder of the universe." E.T. 101

"An Empire’s power depends on its ability to control the cultural stories and language that shape our collective understanding of our world and our choices as a species. Empire stories induce a kind of cultural trance that conditions us to accept the dominator relations of Empire as just and righteous and to dismiss talk of alternatives as naïve, dangerous, or even sinful." ~ David Korten